Rack structures



J. E. L. CULLEN RACK STRUCTURES Nov. 8, 1966 Original Filed June 14, 1963 INVENTOR JAMES E. L. CuLLEN United States Patent 1 Claim. (Cl. 21146) This application is a division of my co-pending appli' cation Serial No. 287,867, filed June 14, 1963, now abandoned.

The invention relates to improvements in filing devices and is more particularly concerned with the novel construction and assembly of a vertical suspension filing system embodying individual racks which can be used apart from one another 'or stacked one upon the other to provide a vertical file system.

The filing racks herein disclosed are designed to afford lateral access to the contents of suspension folders suspended therein. The suspension folders are formed V- shaped and the upper free edges of their side walls carry suspension elements that are designed to be seated upon rails on the racks so as to be longitudinally slidable therealong. The racks, which may be used individually, or stacked one upon the other, include novel structure adapted to facilitate their being nested one above the other and secured against displacement.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a rack of the character retei'red to.

Another object is to provide a rack of the character referred to with novel means to facilitate the nesting of a plurality of such racks one upon the other.

Another object is to provide racks of the character referred to which are inexpensive and simple to construct, easy to assemble in stacked relation and to disassemble, and which are very efiicient in use.

An exemplary structure of the rack is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one of the racks.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of a series of racks stacked one upon the other.

FIG. 3 is an end view of the rack assembly shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of fragmentary portions of two assembled racks.

Referring to the exemplary disclosure of the invention as shown in the accompanying drawings, the rack 11 is fabricated from heavy rod stock formed into a continuous frame or loop so as to define a pair of upper rails 12 which are parallel to one another and extend longitudinally of the rack. Each rail 12 terminates at its ends in a downwardly laterally outwardly inclined leg portion 13. The leg portions on each end are connected by lateral end or base portions 14.

The leg portions 13 and the connecting base portions 14 define substantially triangular-shaped end supports for the rails 12 and each end support is inclined inwardly downwardly slightly for a purpose to be explained presently. In the use of a rack, a series of suspension folders, such as indicated at 15 in FIGS. 1 and 2, are suspended from the upper rails 12 so as to be movable freely longitudinally therealong. As is well known these suspension folders are each adapted to receive loose papers or bound stacks of papers cradled therein.

As noted hereinabove, a rack may be used singly, as by placing it upon a desk or other support surface, or a plurality of them may be stacked one upon the other as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. In order to insure rigidity to the stack and to prevent the racks from slipping ofi one another the extreme end of each upper rail 12 is provided, preferably at its juncture with the related leg portion 13, with a protuberance 16. These protuberances preferably are formed by upsetting the rod stock as best shown in FIG. 4. The base portions 14 are formed with bottom recesses 17 formed by upsetting the rod stock.

The bottom recesses 17 are spaced apart a distance equal to the lateral spacing of the upper rails 12 so that when a rack is seated upon another rack, the upper rails of the lowermost rack will seat in the recesses to restrain lateral shifting. Similarly, the base portions 14 of an upper rack will seat on the upper rails of a rack beneath it closely adjacent to protuberances 16 so as to restrain longitudinal shifting of the racks one relative to the other.

It should be evident that when a series of racks are stacked one upon the other they are prevented from relative slippage and displacement in either lateral or longitudinal directions by the presence of protuberances 16 and recesses 17, and because no permanent securement means such as clamps, screws or the like are required, the racks may be assembled and disassembled with ease.

It is to be understood that the description is illustrative and that I do not desire to be restricted to the exact construction described.

I claim:

An elongated rack for suspension of file folders having hangers on their uppermost edge, said rack comprising, in combination, a single piece of rod-like stock shaped to provide a pair of spaced apart parallel longitudinal rails for receiving the hangers thereon, the rails terminating at each of their ends in a downwardly laterally outwardly inclined leg, an upstanding offset at the juncture of each rail with its associated leg, lateral base portions one integrally joining the lower end of the legs at each end of said rails, and a pair of recesses on the bottom face of each base portion one inwardly of each juncture with a leg and in substantial vertical alignment with the respective rail portions.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,814,390 11/1957 Barbier 211126 2,836,304 5/1958 Furrer 21146 3,003,647 10/1961 Lockwood 21 1126 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. K. J. WINGERT, Assistant Examiner. 

